Federal * * * Safe Space
Washington, D.C. was designed to be stateless from the beginning. The framers included the concept of "no more than ten miles square" as an independent capital in Article 1 of the Constitution. In Chapter 43 of Federalists, james madison advocated "the indispensable necessity of having complete authority where * * * is located", which he thought could avoid * * * "dependence on the country".
Therefore, when alexander hamilton and Thomas Jefferson chose the site for the American capital in 1790, Maryland and Virginia ceded their land to form it. The idea is that the resulting constituency will allow the Federation to operate without being bound by any particular union member.
Give and receive constantly.
However, within a century after the establishment of DC, the motives for restricting its autonomy have changed and become more and more deeply rooted in racial injustice. Only five years after the end of the civil war, that is, 1870, the black population in the capital of the country has increased to more than three times that of ten years ago [PDF]. When newly elected blacks elected black officials, Congress deprived DC of local representation and granted the President the exclusive right to appoint leaders in the region.
A century later, the civil rights struggle was in full swing. Shortly after 196 1, DC became a black-dominated city, the 23rd Amendment granted the district three electoral votes (the minimum number, although the population of DC was larger than that of other 1 1 states). 1973, congress passed the local autonomy law, which allowed DC residents in Washington state to elect their own local officials, but reserved the right to "examine and approve" legislation and budgets.
Five years later, Congress passed a * * *, which granted two senators and one representative the right to vote in the region (1972 appointed a non-voting member), but this effort finally failed after being submitted to the states for approval.
In the following decades, Washington's political will to establish a country weakened. In 1993, Jesse Jackson's state legislative attempt failed by as many as 124 votes.
The modern impetus of Washington, D.C.
DC residents have not finished fighting yet. Since 2000, the license plates in this area have been marked with the slogan "End unrepresented tax payment". In 20 17, 85% residents voted for Canada and became 5 1 state.
Some politicians may be listening, at least on the left. In 2020, every major Democratic presidential candidate expressed support. In 2020, the House of Representatives passed a statehood bill, namely HR 5 1. But * * * and Republicans don't believe it. Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, refused to bring HR 5 1 to the Senate for voting, saying it would lead to "two liberal senators".
At present, the residents of Washington, DC are still in no man's land: neighbors of the Federation, but almost completely unrepresented.